Mexico Rocks! … again.
Simple native farmers in the mountains of Oaxaca have grown centuries of 16-foot-tall cornstalks on very poor mountain slope soils. … How? … Illiterate-but-clever native Mexicans have been quietly developing & cultivating a very special one-of-a-kind type of corn that fixes nitrogen, making their own fertilizer.

Just like legumes (think soybeans) which have trapped special nitrogen-fixing bacteria into their roots, this native Mexican corn that houses nitrogen-fixing bacteria, appears ready to transform the USA’s biggest crop.

Native Mexican’s special corn is poised to change USA’s current nitrogen fertilizer-addicted crop, because the US crop slowly ruins soils. Instead, the native Mexican’s corn includes special slimy roots that house special symbiotic nitrogen-fixing bacteria. This special partnership allows the native’s special Mexican corn to grow in poor soils that have low nutrient levels.

Researchers have shown that the Mexican corn gets up to 82% of the nitrogen it needs from its partnership with special bacteria

4 Responses to Native Mexican Corn Farmers Poised to Rock the Farming World

Don’t you believe it, Connie, about Monsanto ! The cat’s outta da bag, as detailed in this science article with plenty of drama. Search for an article titled “How to Edit a Human” about adventures with CRISPR CAS9 genetic tech @ 1843magazine dot com — featuring Jennifer Doudna in the account of discovery and the ensuing patent contest. The article mentions that anybody can buy a kit to do genetic editing for $159 usd. (Hey kids, don’t try this at home?)

And now I know why I haven’t seen you around Yucatan lately. You’re in Columbia!

Very cool that this genetic treasure has been noticed and could accrue benefits to the native peoples who have kept it alive, as well as the planet itself. (The report also appeared at The Atlantic online under “science” on August 8.)

There’s a deeper story behind nitrogen and agriculture, much of which takes place in Mexico, in a new book by the author of 1491, Charles Mann, titled The WIZARD and the PROPHET : Two Remarkable Scientists and their Dueling Visions to Shape Tomorrow’s World. (One of them won a Nobel) — the story is a balanced contest between environmentalism and “progress”. When I’m done with the book, I plan to donate it to the collection at Merida English Library, once it re-opens.